James Howard Pence

James Howard Pence graduated from Beaman-Conrad Community School before furthering his education at a trade school in Des Moines. He was then employed in Des Moines until he enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 1968. LCPL Pence volunteered to serve in Vietnam, and began his tour on Thanksgiving Day in 1969. He was killed a month later on December 28, 1969 when the helicopter that he was on experienced technological difficulties and crashed into the side of a mountain near Quang Nam. A funeral service was held at the Ivester Church of the Brethren near Eldora, and his body was buried at the Conrad Cemetery.